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We only have one game tonight. In what may be a stunning development to some, the Clippers head home to L.A. licking their wounds in an 0-2 hole to the Utah Jazz, who were without the services of starting point guard Mike Conley for the first two games in Salt Lake. Conley is still questionable heading into tonight's game, but considering the Jazz have won two games without him, they may not want to hurry him back. He is an integral part of the bigger picture: an NBA Championship.
We will go back to Showdown mode for DFS on DraftKings tonight. To build our rosters for this particular format, we need to identify a Captain and five utility players. It's just like the analytics nerds dreamt it up: positionless basketball. The Captain will earn 1.5 times the amount of points he regularly tallies, but it also drives up the price for your more prominent players.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 6/12/21. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. With COVID-19 a significant factor, remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before lineups lock.
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Los Angeles Clippers (-4.5)
Paul George - SG (Captain: $15,600, Utility: $10,400)
Honestly, it takes me a bit to wrap my head around any of the prices on the Clippers. The Jazz have held Kawhi to just 75.75 DraftKings points in 75 minutes over the first two games. Those aren't bad numbers unless your price is as high as his. George has 86.5 DraftKings points in 81 minutes, so it's a little more manageable, especially when captaining George is $2,000 less. I do think that Kawhi will figure Utah out at some point, but that's relative. George has outdone him against Utah in the cumulative total of the five games against them this year.
Reggie Jackson - PG (Captain: $11,400, Utility: $7,600)
The Clippers desperately needed someone to step up at the point guard position. Jackson has. He had at least 25 DraftKings points in five of the seven games against Dallas and put up 37.25 in Game 2 in 36 minutes. Jackson was effective in Game 1 as well, but he fouled out after just 17 minutes. The point is that Jackson was effective and played well while he was on the court. He kept the fouls under control in Game 2. If he can do the same in Game 3, it's looking good for Jackson and the Clippers going forward.
Marcus Morris - SF/PF ($4,800)
The minutes are there for Morris. The only difference between Game 1 and Game 2 was seven rebounds, two assists, and four minutes. I tend to think that Game 1 is the floor. It's not often that Morris is held to three boards playing as many minutes as he does. We'll split the difference and say he'll wind up with around 25 DraftKings points. At this price, that's plenty good enough to use in a utility slot.
Other options: Kawhi Leonard ($11,400), Nicolas Batum ($6,300), DeMarcus Cousins ($2,100)
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Utah Jazz (+4.5)
Donovan Mitchell - PG/SG (Captain: $16,500, Utility: $11,0o0)
Mitchell has been the best player on either team through the first two games of the series, and he's still not really priced like it. Mitchell is still a bit of a discount compared to Kawhi, and he has outperformed him by a decent margin. It's not just because Conley is out either. Mitchell's assist numbers haven't spiked. Neither have any of his other peripherals. He's just scoring at an elite level.
Jordan Clarkson - PG/SG ($8,200)
I have a hard time playing a bench player at captain, but if anyone is worth of it, it's Clarkson. He has 57.25 DraftKings points in 55 minutes in the first two games of the series. The point-per-minute is nothing special, but when you consider the price, he's worthy of rostering. If Mike Conley is able to return, it will cut more into the workload of Joe Ingles than Clarkson. His numbers should be pretty safe no matter what goes on around him.
Bojan Bogdanovic - SF/PF ($6,800)
Bojan has seen a lot of minutes and been a consistent scorer so far in the playoffs. There's no reason for that to stop, but I also don't see any real upside here. He's a sure 25-30 DraftKings points though in a game that it can be hard to find that in. I picked Utah players tonight that will score regardless of the status of Mike Conley. I do like Conley if he plays, but I can't justify the price tag on him when he will likely be at least a little limited. I'm going with more sure things.
Other options: Rudy Gobert ($9,600), Royce O'Neale ($5,400)
